The owners of the giant container ship that blocked the Suez Canal in March have made a new offer in a compensation dispute regarding the canal authority, a lawyer for the authority said Sunday, as a court decision on the case was adjourned for two weeks.
The container ship Ever Given has been anchored in a lake between two sections of the canal since it was evicted on March 29. It had been stranded in the canal for six days, blocking hundreds of ships and disrupting world trade.
The Suez Canal Authority (SCA) demanded $916 million in compensation to cover salvage work, reputational damage and lost revenue, before publicly lowering the request to $550 million.
The Japanese owners of the Ever Given, Shoei Kisen, and their insurers have contested the claim and the detention of the vessel by order of an Egyptian court.
SCA lawyer Khaled Abu Bakr told a court hearing in Ismailia that negotiations had continued until Saturday. The ship’s owners had submitted a new offer, he said, without giving details.
The SCA chairman said earlier that Shoei Kisen had offered to pay $150 million.
After several delays, the court was to have ruled last Sunday, but Shoei Kisen’s legal team asked for more time for negotiations, according to one of its lawyers.
Court sources said the case was postponed until July 4 to allow for an “amicable settlement” between the parties.
This week, UK Club, one of the ship’s insurers, said it was engaging in “serious and constructive negotiations” with the SCA, and was “hopeful of a positive resolution to these negotiations in the near future.”
